Author: Yan Xinchao
Recently, the main film "Send You a Little Red Flower" on New Year's Day exceeded 900 million yuan at the box office. The film revolves around the life trajectory of two anti-cancer families, conveying the optimism and warmth of being positive even if life is difficult. The film has brought warmth and emotion to many audiences, making people full of expectations for the Chinese film market in the new year.
Shadowy youth and love
The protagonists of the film, Wei Yihang and Ma Xiaoyuan, unfortunately suffered from cancer at the same carefree age as hua. At the beginning of the film, Wei Yihang is depressed and lonely, and he has been living in the fear that his condition will recur at any time. He didn't dare to love, he didn't dare to touch others. By chance, he met the optimistic and cheerful Ma Xiaoyuan, and gradually became attracted to him, and his life gradually brightened. The first half of the film takes on the rhythm of a teen idol drama: the misunderstanding between the two when they first meet, the heartwarming night of the first date, and the ease and joy of pretending to go on a distant adventure. Under the shadow of cancer, the two also had emotional twists and turns, but in the end they ushered in a hug in the pouring rain.
Yi Yiqianxi, who plays Wei Yihang, completely lacks the rebellious energy in "Young You", and creates a simple and stubborn teenager with a somewhat autistic personality, and the ability to control the role is more and more outstanding. The new "girl" Liu Haocun, with his clear eyes and pure appearance, reminds people of the appearance of first love.
However, the second half of the film begins to take a sharp turn, and the happiness of the two is easily shattered by the heaviness of reality. This twist is not abrupt, and many plot routines, even if the audience can guess at the beginning, will still be moved by the emotional tension suddenly released by the actors.
In the film, the little red flower appears three times: the first time is after the confession, Ma Xiaoyuan draws a small red flower on the back of Wei Yihang's hand, which completely opens his heart and lets him learn to pay attention to himself and care for others from a self-defeating teenager; the second time is the small red flower that Wei Yihang painted for Ma Xiaoyuan on the hospital bed, which echoes the transmission of the love between the two; and the last little red flower is painted on the sheep on the grassland. This ending with fantasy imagination seems to be as if life and death have not separated the two forever.
"Send You a Little Red Flower" is a commercial film with a high degree of completion, and it does not blindly sell misery and sensationalism because of the anti-cancer factors of the people in the play, but grasps the rhythm of the plot well between laughter and tears. At the end of the film, Wei Yihang came to the lake of dreams alone. In another world, young boys and girls danced in white and played by the water's edge, as if they had never been sick or lost. Aesthetic filters, even if they seem unreal, also make people deeply moved by their true feelings.
Chinese-style parent-child relationship
The story structure of "Send You a Little Red Flower" is similar to the American movie "The Fault in the Stars", which will inevitably cause it to fall into the cliché. However, the more brilliant parts of "Send You a Little Red Flower" are contributed by Gao Yalin, Zhu Yuanyuan, Xia Yu, and other old drama bones. In the film, they play the most common Chinese parents in ordinary families, who give all their love for their children and prefer to give everything they want.
Wei Lives in a well-to-do middle-class family, and both parents have decent jobs. However, in order to treat him, the family did not buy new furniture for many years. My father used the weekend to drive an online car to earn extra money, and my mother spent time in the wet market for the price of a few vegetable leaves. A child in a rebellious period often feels that he is dragging down his parents, and the guilt overwhelms him. The relationship between parents and children is full of tension because of love, showing the real Chinese parent-child relationship.
The father played by Gao Yalin in the film loves Wei Yihang very much, but when his sick son said a dead word, he beat him and hid his tears when his mother and brother said they wanted to sell the house to support him. This image vividly depicts the silent and upright love of the father. The mother played by Zhu Yuanyuan vividly shows the hardship and kindness of motherhood.
Chinese attitude towards the family, the importance and cherishing of family affection, are meticulously portrayed in this film. The dedication of parents to their children is an important part of this film. Therefore, although this film is based on love, it is still a film suitable for the whole family to watch together.
"Send You a Little Red Flower" is not a pure love fairy tale, but also with a pyrotechnic atmosphere and local colors. Through the perspective of the hero and heroine, we see the father of a migrant worker who lost his beloved daughter in the hospital, the grandmother who is waiting for his grandson to return on the street, and the deaf-mute takeaway brother who works hard for his family. They do not need the pity and sympathy of others, but just rely on their own strength to live hard, conveying the preciousness of family affection to every audience and the power to move forward.
The spiritual world of the anti-cancer family
"Send You a Little Red Flower" is an anti-cancer film, but the film does not focus on the operating room and ward, but focuses on the details of the daily life of cancer patients, focusing on the difficulties and psychological difficulties of anti-cancer family life. The film's attention to the spiritual world of cancer patients and their families is full of practical significance. Cancer brings a person and a family in addition to illness, but also a huge financial pressure and endless mental torture. As Wu Xiaoming said to Wei Yihang in the film: "You have to be sick, and the people around you are even more difficult." ”
Cancer patients and their families need more spiritual comfort. In addition to relieving the patient's pain through treatment, it is equally important to take care of them psychologically. In the film, cancer patients spontaneously organize and form mutual aid associations. Those seemingly sentimental "chicken soup for the soul" and slogans shouted in unison are somewhat ridiculous in the eyes of ordinary people, but they show the confidence and strength of cancer patients to fight against the disease.
In the film, Wei Yihang asks his parents: "If one day I am gone, how will you live?" The parents' response was to clumsily film "the day they lost their son" with their mobile phones, and such details are touching. It is precisely because we will lose that we will love and cherish with all our strength.
Han Yan, director of "Send You a Little Red Flower", will associate the film with "Get Out!" "Tumor Jun" is included in his own "Trilogy of Life". He said: "2020 is not easy for us, 2021 should reward ourselves with a small red flower, and then move on." ”
Ordinary and monotonous days sometimes make us forget that death will eventually come. The strength and courage of these cancer patients will make us understand life and life more thoroughly. (Yan Xinchao)
Source: Hainan Daily